Cleaning composition



United States Patent. O ce I CLEANING COMPOSITION Wesley E. Combs,Okmulgee, Okla.

No Drawing. Application July 9, 1952,

Serial No. 298,009 1 pended claims. Y

, The invention consists in the novel compositions, combinations andimprovements herein described. y An object of my invention is to providea novel cleaning composition comprising anicotine and water mixture,said composition having -surface active and detergent properties as wellas lowering the surface tension and interfacial tension between theobject being cleaned and foreign matter such as dirt, grease, wax, etc.,deposited on said object.

' Patented Mar. .20, 1956 ered, thus facilitating the removal .of theforeign matter from said object.

Advantageously, the above cleaning compositions have incorporatedtherein blue indigo in the range of about 0.0005 to about 0.50% byweight of the total composition. The addition of the blue indigoincreases the cleaning properties of said compositions as well as addinga shine or lustre to the object being cleaned, and at the same timeimproving the color of said object.

One of the outstanding features of the novel nicotine and water mixtureis that the cleaning properties of a detergent, whethernatural orsynthetic, are improved by the addition of nicotine to said detergent toimprove its cleaning action. Preferably, the nicotine is added to thedetergent in the form of a nicotine and water mixture, as defined above.If so desired, however, the nicotine may be added byitself. in eithercase, the detergent composition is diluted with water before it is usedin cleaning. Among the. natural detergents which may be improved, areorganic alkali metal soaps derived from the saponification of higherfatty acids by sodium and potassium hydroxide such as the soaps preparedby the saponification of tallow, palm oil, cocoanut oil and cottonseedoil with organic detergentsmay be illustrated by soda ash, potash andcaustics such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide.

,Another object of my invention is to provide a;.novel cleaningcomposition comprising nicotine,' water and blue indigo, said compositonnot only having improved detergent and surface active properties, butalso having the property of improving the lustre and color of the object being cleaned. i

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improveddetergent composition comprising a detergent tine in at least about.007% by weight of the total com position, provides a cleaningcomposition having unique surface active and detergent properties. nessof this composition increases with the increase of nicotine up to Wherethe nicotine is about 33% by weight of the total composition. Cleaningcompositions in the above ranges are highly desirable, for at thoseranges the nicotine will volatilize into the air after application tothe object to be cleaned, thus preventing the depositing of any foreignmatter from the cleaning composition on the The effeotive-' obiectcleaned. Above the upper limit range of 33%, i

=Any suitable syntheticdetergent composition may be used, such as thealkali salts of alkyl aryl sulfonates and ..su1fated alcohols,polyoxya-lkylene ethers and their derivatives. Specific examplesoftypical-syntheticdetergent compositions which may be improved bytheaddition of nicotine are as follows, the per cents being expressed byweights? u i (1) Sodium ethyl methyloleylamide sulfonate, 30%; sodiumsulfate, 64%; sodium carbonate, 0.9%; sodium chloride, 4.6%; water,0.5%.

(2) Sodium laury sulfate, 38.8%; sodium carbonate, 1.3%; sodium sulfate,57.8%; water, 2.1%.

(3) Sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate, 33.4%; sodium carbonate, 1.6%; sodiumsulfate, 62.6%; water, 2.4%.

(4) Sodium sulfated monoglyceride, 32%; sodium carbonate, 1.3%; sodiumsulfate, 64.7%; water, 2.0%.

(5) Keryl benzene sodium sulfonate, 40%; sodium sulfate, 24%; sodiumcarbonate, 4.8%; trisodium phos phate, 9%; sodium silicate, 10%; sodiumcarboxy methyl cellulose, 0.5%; water, 11.7%.

(6) Alkyl aryl sodium sulfonate, 37%; sodium sulfate, 9% magnesiumsulfate, 5%; disodium phosphate, 4%; sodium pyrophosphate, 33%; sodiumtrypoly phosphate, 3%; sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, 0.7%; water,8.3%.

(7) Sodium salt sulfated alcohols, 20%; sodium sulfate, 15%; sodiumcarbonate, 1.4%; sodium chloride, 0.5%; disodium phosphate, 6.7%; sodiumpyrophosphate, 14.6%; sodium tripoly phosphate, 27.8%; sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 0.5%; sodium silicate, 3.8%; water, 9.7%.

(8) Polyoxyethylene ether, 20%; sodium carbonate,

21%; sodium pyrophosphate, 39%; starch, 15 water,

(9) Alkyl aryl sodium sulfonate, 25 sodium sulfate, 17%; sodiumcarbonate, 1%; disodiu'maphosphate, 2.2%; sodium tripoly phosphate,7.5%; sodium silicate, 4.5%;

sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, 0.4%; sodium -pyro (12) Polyoxyalkyleneether of partial palmitic acid ester.

(13) Modified alkyl aryl sodium sulfonate.

(14) Sodium salt of technical lauryl sulfate.

Whether the nicotine be added by itself to the detergent or in the formof a water and nicotine mixture, the detergent should contain at least.0000042 parts nicotine to one part of detergent. The maximum nicotinepreferred is about .5 part of nicotine to 1 part of detergent. Hence, ifthe nicotine is added in the form of a nicotine and water mixture, thenicotine and water mixture, wherein the nicotine is in the range of0.0007% to 33% by weight of the total mixture, is added to the detergentin the ratio of about .06 to 1.5 parts by weight of said mixture toabout 1 part by weight of the detergent. If so desired, blue indigo maybe added in the range of about .000000003 to about'.0075 part per partof detergent. If a nicotine and water mixture is used, the range wouldbe about .0005% to about .5 blue indigo of the total nicotine and watermixture.

In either case, the detergent containing nicotine, whether added byitself or in the form of a nicotine and water mixture, is diluted withfrom zero to 4 gallons of water (15,140) for every gram of detergent insaid composition.

in order to describe the invention more specifically, the followingworking examples are now given.

Example I Example 11 Fifteen grams of nicotine are added to eighty gramsof water and mixed thoroughly.

A strip of leather having deposited thereon dirt, wax and other foreignmatter is cleaned by depositing 3 grams of said above mixture on saidstrip and rubbing said mixture on said strip, thus removing the foreignmatter from said strip, said mixture in no way interfering with thequality of the leather strip.

Example III One-thousandth of a gram of blue indigo is added to anicotine and water mixture prepared under the conditions stated in thefirst paragraph of Example 11.

A sheet of iron having a chrome finish and having dcposited thereondirt, grease, wax and other foreign matter is cleaned by depositing 3grams of said above mixture on said sheet and rubbing said mixture onsaid sheet. By this application, the foreign matter is not only removedfrom said sheet, but also the chrome is provided with a bright shine orlustre.

Example IV Ten grams of a nicotine and water mixture prepared under theconditions of the first paragraph of Example II are mixed with ten gramsof sodium tallow soap. This mixture is then diluted with one gallon ofwater.

A strip of woodwork having a maple finish and having deposited thereondirt, oil and other foreign matter is cleaned by depositing 15 grams ofsaid above mixture on said strip and rubbing said mixture on said strip,whereby the foreign matter on said strip is removed therefrom, resultingin the strip having a new-like appearance.

A second strip, substantially the same as the first, is then cleaned byapplying 15 grams of a sodium tallow soap and water mixture, prepared byadding ten grams of said soap to one gallon of water, and rubbing saidmixture on said strip. Although some of the foreign matter is removed bysaid application, it is not as effective a cleaning composition as thesoap, nicotine and water mixture. The first strip has a much cleaner andnewer appearance than the secondly cleaned strip, thus showing thesuperiority of the first described cleaning composition.

Example V l5 gram of a nicotine and water mixture prepared under theconditions of the first paragraph of Example II is mixed with ten gramsof a synthetic detergent consisting by weight of 30% sodium ethylmethloleylamide sulfonate, 64% sodium sulfate, 0.9% sodium carbonate and4.6% of sodium chloride. This mixture is then diluted with one gallon ofwater.

A sheet of white cotton fabric having deposited thereon dirt, grease andother foreign matter is cleaned by depositing grams of said abovemixture on said fabric sheet and rubbing said mixture on said sheet,whereby all of the foreign matter on said strip is removed efficiently.

A second sheet of cotton fabric, substantially the same as the first, isthen cleaned by applying 100 grams of water and detergent mixture,prepared by adding ten grams of a detergent, having the same chemicalmake as the detergent defined above, to one gallon of water, and rubbingsaid mixture on said sheet. This mixture does not remove the foreignmatter as adequately as the cleaning composition containing the nicotineand water mixture in addition to the detergent, thus indicating thesuperiority of the latter cleaning composition over the former.

Example VI To a cleaning composition, prepared in accordance with thenicotine, water and tallow soap mixture of Example IV, is addedone-thousandth of a gram ofblue indigo.

A sheet of chrome metal having deposited thereon dirt, grease and otherforeign matter is cleaned by depositing 5 grams of said above mixture onsaid sheet and rubbing said mixture on said sheet, whereby the foreignmatter is removed from said sheet. The chrome metal has a bright lustresimulating that of a brand new chrome metal sheet.

Example V11 To a cleaning composition, prepared in accordance with thenicotine, water and detergent mixture of Example V, is addedone-thousandth of a gram of blue indigo.

A sheet of stainless steel having deposited thereon dirt, grease andother foreign matter is cleaned by depositing 5 grams of said abovemixture on said sheet and rubbing said mixture on said sheet, wherebythe foreign matter is removed from said sheet. As in the previousexample, the stainless steel sheet has a bright lustre simulating thatof a brand new stainless steel sheet.

Accordingly, the cleaning compositions of the present invention are mostuseful and efficient. The fact that they can be used on all types ofobjects without impairing their physical properties makes them highlyadvantageous to use.

Although the nicotine and water mixtures are highly desirable cleaningcompositions, the incorporation of blue indigo to such compositions isrecommended, for not only is the cleaning action of'such compositionsimproved, but the object being cleaned is provided with a bright lustreand the color of the object is improved.

A most remarkable discovery is that the cleaning action of theconventional natural and synthetic detergents is improved by theincorporation of nicotine with the detergent, either by adding anicotine and water mixture to the detergent, or adding the nicotinedirectly to the detergent. In either case, the new detergentcompositions are further diluted by adding water when used in cleaning.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificprocess described but departures may be made therefrom, within the scopeof the accompanying claims, without departing from the principles of theinvention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for cleaning an object containing foreign matter depositedthereon comprising depositing on said object a composition consistingessentially of water and nicotine, the nicotine being in the range ofabout .007% to about 33% by weight of the total composition, and rubbingsaid composition on said object, whereby the foreign matter on saidobject is loosened and removed from said object 2. A process as definedin claim 1 wherein said composition contains blue indigo in the range ofabout 0.0005% to about 0.5% of the total composition.

Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Reinhold Pub. 00., N. Y. (1942), page464.

Modern Soap and Detergent Industry, Martin; Crosby Lockwood and Son,London (1931), vol. 2, sec. 2, p. 33.

1. A PROCESS FOR CLEANING AN OBJECT CONTAINING FOREIGN MATTER DEPOSITEDTHEREON COMPRISING DEPOSITING ON SAID OBJECT A COMPOSITION CONSISTINGESSENTIALLY OF WATER AND NICOTINE, THE NICOTINE BEING IN THE RANGE OFABOUT .007% TO ABOUT 33% BY WEIGHT OF THE TOTAL COMPOSITION, AND RUBBINGSAID COMPOSITION ON SAID OBJECT, WHEREBY THE FOREIGN MATTER ON SAIDOBJECT IS LOOSENED AND REMOVED FROM SAID OBJECT.